Liberty makes move for Kabel D

Liberty Global has made a preliminary offer to buy Germany’s biggest cable company, setting up a possible bidding war with UK telecoms giant Vodafone.

The US media group, owned by cable magnate John Malone, has reportedly bid €7.5bn (US$9.7bn) for Kabel Deutschland.

The move follows Vodafone’s offer of €7bn for the company last week.

A spokesman for Liberty Global, which operates as Unity Media in Germany, confirmed the firm had made a preliminary approach but declined to comment further.

Liberty’s bid values the company at about €85 per share, according to reports.

Liberty already owns and operate Germany’s third largest cable TV firm Kabel BW, after paying €3.6bn for the company in March 2011.